BRIDGEPORT — Grandstand Sports may be in White Sox territory, but that's not stopping Cubs and Indians fans alike from shopping there for their World Series gear.
"It's been on fire," said Grandstand owner Stephanie Golan, who runs the shop with her husband, Josh.
A couple blocks from U.S. Cellular Field at 600 W. 35th St., Grandstand Sports stayed open until midnight Saturday when the Cubs clinched their first National League pennant since 1945. Customers wanted to make sure they got their Cubs jerseys, hats and "W" flags before the gear shop sold out.
But the shop has had another kind of visitor you might not expect on the South Side.
“We sell a lot of our Chicago team’s stuff and whatever team we’re playing," Golan said. "We're selling out of Cleveland Indians stuff. They're coming into the store."
Though most of Grandstand's inventory sports a Cubs logo, you can still find Cleveland Indians hats.
Visits from Chicago opponents before big sports events are not unusual, Golan said. When the White Sox played the Houston Astros in the 2005 World Series, Astros fans flooded the store looking for gear.
But the most common gear-seeking migration runs north to south.
Diego Castillo, 52, and his girlfriend, Kerry Otero, 47, traveled to Grandstand Sports all the way from Ukrainian Village. The shops they visited there had sold out of gear.
"It's cleared out up north," Otero said.
"We came to Sox country," said Castillo, who spent $7,000 on a pair of Game 2 World Series tickets.
Grandstand Sports is happy to have the business, though owners say their gear is selling out fast.
"Companies are running out so fast they can’t even keep it in stock at the manufacturers," Golan said. "It's been crazy."
Grandstand plans to sell the Cubs merchandise until it's all gone. Owners aren't concerned with contention among Sox fans who might be upset about a business on the home team's turf selling the crosstown rival's gear.
“We’ve carried the Cubs for 28 years," Golan said. "Sox fans don’t like it. We’re Sox fans too but we’re not going to root against our city."
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